Planet of My Heart
by Lioness Blackfire
Summary: Rainbow is a new neopian. What with getting mixed up in secret faerie plans, an ultra-private guild hidden away in the jungle of mystery island, and just trying to make enough neopoints to live off of, she's sure to have an interesting ride!


Disclaimer: I do not own Neopets.  
br AN: As I add each name, I quickly check with the system to ensure I never use an already taken name. NOTE: If you have not logged in for a VERY long time, searching your username will turn up nothing (though it will say your pets are on vacation if you look them up). So you may not complain if you use a name in here. Saying I stole something will get you nowhere.  
br Now, about the sign-up process... eh... I don't remember what exactly they ask you. It's been checks 38 months since I signed up. So I'm getting ideas from the User Info changing page. Anyway, ikimas!  
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br center u b Planet of My Heart /u  
br By Lioness Blackfire /b  
br  
br Chapter One - Edge of Reality  
br /center  
br I vaguely heard the female voice over the music blasting in my headphones. It was a long ride to Neopia, and I had long since zoned out to the anime hardcore radio. i Miss /i ? It was a bit more forceful this time, and I opened my eyes. Miss, we've landed on the Neopets Application Satellite.  
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br I shot up, shoving the headphones down around my neck. Luckily the flight attendant had quick reflexes, or I would have smacked right into her. Ah - thanks. I grabbed my backpack and duffel bag and walked as fast as I could toward the exit. When I reached the airlock, a pleasant voice asked me to approach the console left of the doorway and to place my hands palm-first on the glowing plate. I did so, frowning at the delay.  
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br Almost instantly the screen flickered and brought up my information, as well as a photo of me from when I had left Earth about twenty hours ago. I scanned the information distastefully. Everything I had gone to Neopia to try and escape was shown so readily, as always.  
br  
br b Name: /b Koori Yseult Summonara  
br b Age: /b 17  
br b Rank: /b Secondary School Student, Released  
br b Planet of Origin: /b Earth  
br  
br I grimaced again at the display, but walked through the portal as it slid open. The reception chamber of the NPA Satellite was vastly different from what I had expected. I i had /i expected rainbow furniture or nova-print wallpaper, but it seemed to me that the whole place was just like any other satellite in the universe - silverish-white walls, floor, desk, and computer stations with stools - several of which humans were sitting at, typing in short spurts.  
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br The only things that kept me from thinking that this was indeed just another satellite and that the flight attendant had been wrong were the various items of luggage that everyone had, and that behind the counter was an adult, female cloud lenny. She beckoned to me and, obediently, I walked up to the desk.  
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br Hello. Welcome to the Neopets Application Satellite. Is this your first time here? I nodded. Well, all you need to do is go to an unoccupied station and enter the information asked of you. If you have any questions, just ask me. I nodded again and headed for the first vacant station. I set my bags down at it and sat. The screen flashed to life as I placed my fingers on the keyboard. The cursor blinked after the first fill-in space.  
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br b Neopian Name: /b  
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br I thought for a good, long time about that. Whatever I entered would be final - it would be my name forever. Finally, I reached a decision, and tapped in:  
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br b Neopian Name: /b CosmicRainbownoFlame  
br b Age: /b 17  
br b Full Name: /b Rainbow  
br b Date Of Birth /b  
br Month: July  
br Day: 27  
br Year: 1987  
br b Gender: /b Female  
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br The choices for the three blanks amused me, and eventually I chose comic books, flying, and sock collecting. Then I came to the final, largest blank.  
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br b Appearance: /b  
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br I blinked a few times.  
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br Did you need something, dearie? The lenny lady asked.  
br  
br Ah, yes. What does it mean by   
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br On Neopia, you get a new appearance. It resembles Earth's anime. You may change your appearance as often as you like, but many people stick with the first one they design here. You type out the description, being as detailed as you please, and if you like, you may step into one of the mirrored rooms along the back there and see how you'll look and if you'd like to modify your description.  
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br Oh. Okay. Thank you. I turned back to the screen and fell into thought. This was the most important bit of all, I realized - even if it was changeable. After a bit, inspiration struck, and I took a deep breath before typing.  
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br b Appearance: /b 5'6 tall, built like the ideal female anime character. Ankle-length wavy rainbow-striped hair drawn up into odangoes, light grey eyes, fair skin. Elf ears, pierced three times in each lobe. Drawn in the style of Naoko Takeuchi. (Sailor Moon Manga)  
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br I sat back and looked that over. It seemed to be sufficient, but it was always good to check. The moment I stepped into the room, I physically felt a change. The few sounds echoing in the small mirrored chamber were remarkably louder, and a natural kind of grace had descended upon me. I looked at the mirror directly in front of me and was absolutely astounded. The long, flowing hair and remarkably trim figure accented by the pointed elfin ears and long-fingered, graceful hands. I twirled, and my hair flew around me in a giant spiral.  
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br It was perfect.  
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br center  
br /center  
br The temporary apartment I had been instantly teleported to upon thricely confirming that all my details were correct was in a building surprisingly close to the pet creation center. The sprawling transperishield structure tempted me the moment I saw it, but I was concerned about having so few neopoints to support both a pet and myself on. However, temptation won the battle. After all, what was neopets without a neopet?  
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br The large, magically sealed enclosures of new neopets were fascinating in and of themselves, though few of the pets themselves piqued my interest. I had walked for what seemed like a very long time when the sound of a wildly screaming pet came to my newly sensitive ears. It wasn't just me who turned when a greasy-looking teenage boy dragged a small, yellow frog-like creature down the main walkway.  
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br Please, Taurin, I promise I'll train extra-hard! Please don't put me in the pound! I'll even take a ruki morphing potion if you want one this much! Please, please... The screaming, begging sobs faded into the distance.  
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br The pound?' I wondered. There was a neopet pound? That poor little quiggle was going to be taken there, and she obviously was scared out of her wits at the prospect. I sprinted toward the door of the adoption center, praying that my new ears would be able to pick up on the pet's frantic screams again. As it turned out, I heard the pet the moment I pushed open the front doors. I followed the sound of them until I found the pair, and then followed them to a medium-sized building, stopping only to pick up a large-ish brown bag just off the path.  
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br The boy barged right in and stormed up to the desk - to the side marked abandon'. The older-looking yellow techo scowled as he pulled out a paper that the boy scribbled on for a moment before shoving the quivering pet at the disgruntled techo. In his haste to get back to the adoption center, the boy almost ran straight into me in the middle of the room.  
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br What'r you lookin' at? he growled and stormed on past.  
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br Can I help you? The pretty pink uni at the adopt' side asked after a moment.  
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br Um, yes. I... ah... I'm new here. How does this work?  
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br This is the Neopian Pound. When owners - for whatever reason - want to get rid of a pet, they leave it with us. This is also the place to come if you want to adopt an abandoned pet. You have to fill out a simple form and pay a small fee either way. I noticed the techo had just come back and was looking at me expressionlessly, his head resting on one hand. Are you interested in adopting?  
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br Uhm, yes. At least, I think so.  
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br Then right this way. She lead me around behind the desk, to an astonishingly large room set up like a multi-level jail. Row upon row of the cages filled the entire room, each holding a single pet. They varied in appearance - from the pleading to the overconfidently poised; from the new, crying pets to the ones with a wild look that made me think they had been there a few months too long. Anything specific you're looking for?  
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br That yellow quiggle that was just brought in?  
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br The uni looked surprised, but led me to the next row of cages, near the end. Anything else?  
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br No, I'm good from here. I'll call when I've made my decision. The uni nodded politely and was off. I turned back to the cage. The small pet was still wiping tears from her eyes.  
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br Don't take her! She just got here! Rudely yelled a male voice to my left. The source seemed to be a tough-looking green korbat.  
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br Why shouldn't I? I replied obstinately.  
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br i I've /i been here for two and a half weeks, take me!  
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br Just because you've been here longer? I think you'd get picked faster if you stopped being a jerk. I looked at a playful blue kougra in the cage above the quiggle's and asked, How is it here?  
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br Not all that bad, considering the kind of owner you could get. He said, shrugging. I mean, you get food. The Soup Faerie donates it. You get out a couple times a week to run around in the lot in back of here. And fridays are pizza days. He grinned toothily. So besides the restriction of movement, snooty owners, and jerks like him- he flicked his tail in the direction of the korbat -life ain't bad.  
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br How long have you been here?  
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br Eh... about four weeks, this time. More like nine weeks adding it all together.  
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br You've been here more than once?  
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br Of course. Once you're abandoned once, 95 of the time it's a sentence of being eternally passed from owner to owner. I looked at the quiggle, who was staring at me, wide-eyed. Then I looked back at the kougra. He was already taking a special place in my heart, but I had come in here determined to rescue the quiggle. Take her. He said unexpectedly, and I started. I'll be here when you get back. That did it for me.  
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br Miss uni? I called. She came softly clip-clopping back to me.  
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br Have you reached a decision?  
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br Yes. The quiggle and the kougra, please. I think every eye in the whole room was staring at me for that, and I actually blushed under the advanced scrutiny. The uni, after recovering for a moment, unlocked the doors of the two cages and lifted the occupants out, handing the quiggle to me and setting the kougra next to me on the floor. Then she led the way back to the front desk and flipped through a file cabinet for a bit before finding the papers she wanted.  
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br So you're adopting Spacedust777 the Blue Kougra and AlyaSerpen the Yellow Quiggle. Please just sign each of these forms, and that will be 87 neopoints for Spacedust and 835 for Alya. I blanched. I didn't have that kind of money.  
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br Give her the bag. Spacedust whispered from near my knees. In my infinite stupidity, I had forgotten to check out the contents of the bag I had picked up. I looked now, and discovered, to my intense relief, 1000 neopoints. Carefully I counted out the bills and coins to the total of 922, and pocketed the remaining 78.  
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br Thank you very much. The uni replied. And have a nice day!  
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br You too. And I nodded at her as well as the grumpy techo before heading on out.  
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br center  
br /center  
br As it turned out, (though it came as no surprise) I had a lot to learn about Neopia. The first thing Spacedust set me to doing was playing meerca chase. It's really quite simple. he said. You guide the meerca to eat all the neggs but the red ones. That makes your tail grow longer. Red neggs, running into a wall, or running into your tail means game over. Always play on hard - it'll seem fast at first, but you'll get used to it - and never accept a score of under 200.  
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br That was a lot more difficult that it had initially sounded, but after a good hour I had made 793 neopoints, and with the efforts of Spacedust at evil fuzzles from beyond the stars and Alya at turmac roll, the three of us were heading home with an astounding 6286 neopoints.  
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br That is, I'd thought we were, until my stomach rumbled loudly.  
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br Come to think of it, I'm getting pretty hungry myself. Spacedust commented.  
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br Alya agreed.  
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br Well, we've got some money. Grocery shopping?  
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br Yes, but there's some things you need to know about shopping on a limited budget. Both me and Spacedust looked at Alya in surprise and even some mild shock. She hadn't said much at all before that. My old owner was a cheapskate. Shopping and battling are the only things I'm good at. We found a bench and I pulled the small yellow quiggle onto my lap.  
br  
br So what do I need to know?  
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br Well, first of all, always check with the shop wizard before buying anything from a regular store. And vice-versa, too. If what you're looking for isn't in stock at the regular shops, just ask. The owners are always happy to help. Got all that?  
br  
br Well... what's the shop wizard?  
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br Oh! He's a yellow jubjub who can magically locate any item in any shop in all of Neopia. He used to greet customers one at a time, but the demand grew beyond his capacity. So he made it into a program. Use your neopian's official watch to check out prices now. She took my right wrist and motioned to the multi-function watch I had received upon completing my application. Just press the gold button on top here, she did so, and clearly state the name of the item you're looking up. For example: Broccoli!  
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br The watch whirred for a moment, and then displayed an address, name, the word Broccoli, the number 3, and 125 NP.  
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br See, this means that ChiroChiroLove is selling three broccoli at 125 neopoints apiece at her store at that location. Now let's check the food store. She hopped off my lap and ran for a building shaped like a giant hamburger. There was a formidable crowd inside, but that didn't seem to phase the small pet, who wound her way into the crowd and came back to me with a stalk of broccoli. Now you see, here it's priced at 131 neopoints. She was half-yelling to be heard over the crowd, so I picked her up. But since you can haggle, the price would actually end up lower here than in ChiroChiroLove's shop.  
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br That's impressive. I said after mentally storing all that. So do you want to buy it?  
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br Nah. I hate broccoli.  
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br center  
br /center  
br Trudging home to a tiny apartment with only a tenth of the neopoints you had previously walked out of the game center proudly counting wasn't such a bad thing, by this point, I found. Realizing the only thing the apartment had in it was a working bathroom, the first order of buisness was to buy a bed. That alone (despite the fact that we triple-checked and bought the cheapest bed we could find that was still decent) cut our neopoints in half. Once we had paid for the fresh bamboo bed, of course, we had to figure out how to get it anywhere.  
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br That's when Alya walked over to it, hoisted it easily into the air with one arm, and asked What's next?  
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br Next we went for some grooming supplies. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, a brush, and a towel were all added to the load. Then, finally, food. It was a good thing I had chosen pets who knew what they were doing. We managed to get by mostly with several omelettes.  
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br Spacedust exclaimed, running through the door. Wow, I haven't said that in a while.  
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br Hopefully this won't have to be our home much longer. But while it is, let's make the best of it. I said, setting the bags of supplies along one wall while Alya put the bed head-side against the back wall.  
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br Food time? Spacedust asked.  
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br I grinned. Food time. We didn't have a table or chairs, and it was a bad idea to eat in bed, so we sat in a circle on the floor, using the food bags as a plate. Among us we split two BBQ and a bacon and broccoli omelette, with neocola to drink and flower cakes for dessert. Both of my pets were delighted, and the food even seemed expecially good to me. After dinner we conducted baths (Spacedust could wash himself, but Alya needed some help) and got ready for bed.  
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br Are i those /i your pajamas? Alya giggled as I emerged from the bathroom in my asparagus-print PJs.  
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br What's wrong with them? I asked.  
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br They look like something Adam would wear.  
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br   
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br Both Stardust's and Alya's eyes grew wide. Adam. Head of the neopets team. Alya's voice dropped to a whisper. Some pets even say he was the one who created Neopia. And such was how my pets ended up telling a bedtime story to me.  
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br AN: Well, that's it! First chapter done! Yeah!


End file.
